xercise alone is unlikely to help you in reducing a significant amount of weight since the key to weight loss lies in reducing the calories you eat and drink.  However,  regular exercise does play a very useful role in weight management.  In addition to burning some of the calories you consume, exercise makes you feel better, and be less stressed, a significant factor in why people often overeat and go for high fat, sugary foods.  That is one of the reasons we encouraged you to start a walking program in Session 2 even if it was walking only 10 minutes a day.

Are you ready to increase the intensity of your exercise program?  That is where cardiovascular or aerobic exercise - one of  the 3 Key Components of Fitness - comes in.  Please click here to review  Program Expectations before jumping into Session 5.   After you are done, use the "Back" button on your browser to come back to this spot.

Cardiovascular or aerobic (with oxygen) exercises such as brisk walking, jogging and swimming use the body's large muscle groups in continuous, sustained movement.  Oxygen from the air we breathe in is carried by the bloodstream to cells throughout the body where it reacts with the stored fat to produce energy.  The longer you move aerobically, the more energy is needed and the more excess fat is consumed.  Regular aerobic exercise causes the heart to pump harder leading to conditioning and strengthening of the heart.  It improves your cardio respiratory endurance, the ability of your heart, lungs, blood vessels and associated tissues to use oxygen to produce energy needed for activity.  You are building a healthier body while getting rid of excess body fat.

Do You Need to Do Vigorous Exercise?   No, not for cardiovascular or other health benefits.   Regular, moderate exercise is enough to reduce your health risks.  To get the maximum cardiovascular benefit from aerobic exercise, most experts recommend the following:
 

If you are new to exercise, please start gradually and work up to the above levels.  Unfortunately, a lot of people starting a new exercise program start exercising too hard and quit when unable to keep up.

For exercise to be injury free it is very important to correctly warm up and cool down.

Proper warm up helps the body prepare itself for exercise and reduces the chance of injury to cold muscles and joints.  Warm muscles stretch better allowing greater range of motion to the joints.  A good warm up can be a slower version of the exercise you are about to engage in such as walking before jogging, jogging before running.

Proper cool down so that the heart rate and breathing that are elevated during exercise come down gradually to the normal rate.  Stopping abruptly places an unnecessary stress on the heart.  A good cool down can be walking around slowly and stretching exercises to help relax the muscles and prevent them from getting sore and stiff.  

Click here to see if you need a medical evaluation before starting a more intensive exercise program.  After you are done, use the "Back" button on your browser to come back to this spot.

What is Safe Target Heart Range?

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends the following:

• Your estimated maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age.
  (The standard deviation for this equation is 10 -12 beats per minute).
   
• Determine your lower limit exercise heart rate by multiplying
  the maximum heart rate by 0.6  (Other experts recommend safe
  range being between 0.5 - 0.75 of the maximum heart rate).
   
• Determine your upper limit exercise heart rate by multiplying
  the maximum heart rate by 0.9 (Other experts recommend safe
  range being between 0.75 - 0.85 of the maximum heart rate).

According to ACSM for most people exercising at the lower end of the exercise heart range for a longer time is better than exercising at the higher end of the range for a shorter time.  Consult your physician to determine your own ideal heart rate.

Click here to use the online Target Heart Rate Calculator based on ACSM's recommendations. Use the "Back" button on the browser to return to this spot.  

Rule of Thumb -- You are NOT in the Safe Target Heart Range if you are unable to carry on a conversation while exercising aerobically.

Taking Your Heart Rate During Exercise

To determine whether you are exercising within the heart rate target zone, you must stop exercising briefly to take your pulse.

You can take the pulse at the the wrist, or the chest. We recommend the wrist. You can feel the radial pulse on the artery of the wrist in line with the thumb. Place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery and press lightly. Do not use the thumb. Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Start the count on a beat, which is counted as "zero."   If you are not within your range, you may need to modify the intensity level of your exercise.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control Website)

Another option is to place the tips of your middle and index fingers in the groove of your throat just to the side of the Adam's apple. Count the heart beats for six seconds and multiply the number of beats by 10.  If you are not within your range, you may need to modify the intensity level of your exercise.

We hope that during this week while continuing with Program Expectations you will go ahead and determine your Target Heart Rate and add regular aerobic exercise in your daily routine.  Please be sure to maintain your Daily Food and Activity Record using the online calorie calculators and other information available under Calorie Calculators on the top frame.

The importance of the other key fitness components - Strength Training and Flexibility -  will be introduced in subsequent sessions.